Community Bands
These are bands that any community member could join. Some of them have limited seats as per their structure and their place in the jazz tradition and have fixed seasons. Other ensembles have unlimited instrumentation with no membership commitment.
Parade Band
The Guelph Jazz Society Parade Band is a welcoming street and park ensemble that brings live music to parades, festivals, parks, and public celebrations throughout Guelph. Open to musicians of all ages and experience levels, the band performs an energetic mix of New Orleans jazz, swing, pop favourites, and community sing-alongs arranged for a mobile ensemble.
Rehearsals are relaxed, with strong emphasis on inclusivity where musicians of all ages and skill levels are actively recruited, in its first easy the band had an age range of 4 to 85 years old! The band is a vehicle for the shy or unsure to learn how to improvise in a mass band setting where the stakes are low, the spirits are high, and imperfection is the expectation.
Check the Events Calendar for the next Parade Band rehearsal, they’re all drop-ins!
Big Band
The Guelph Jazz Society Big Band is a jazz orchestra and community concert ensemble featuring saxophones, trumpets, trombones, rhythm section, vibraphone, and two vocalists.
Since its first rehearsal at La Poche in February 2026, the band has been run in the Ellingtonian model, shaping its music around the personalities, strengths, and stories of its members. Drawing repertoire from every era of the jazz big band tradition, the ensemble performs music that reflects the lives, tastes, and experiences of the musicians themselves.
The result is a warm, cohesive sound rooted in strong community relationships, where storytelling and collective expression are at the heart of every performance.
Registration: The Big Band is currently seeking a lead alto or tenor saxophone player, trumpeter, and trombonist beginning in September of 2026. Contact if interested.
Combo
Registration: Open to all instruments and voices! Contact guelphjazzsociety@gmail.ca to express interest, and pay your tuition here.
The Guelph Jazz Society Combo Bands are a weekly learning ensemble designed to help musicians develop the practical skills needed to collaborate and express themselves fluently in the jazz tradition. Through playing in small groups, participants strengthen core jazz musicianship including listening, communication, improvisation, repertoire, groove, and ensemble interaction.
The Combo Band provides a welcoming, supportive environment where players can ask questions, build confidence, and develop their own musical voice while learning alongside others.
Whether you’re looking to get off the page, deepen your understanding of jazz, or become a more responsive and expressive ensemble member, the Combo Band offers an ideal place to grow.
Performance Bands
These are bands that provide a service to facilitate other community events. Other Guelph Jazz Society activities wouldn’t be possible with the professional support of these groups.
Confluence
More coming soon…
Wyndham Gardens Band
More coming soon…